After 47 Years, Clayton's City Attorney Steps Down

When Maury Huguet became Clayton's first city attorney in 1964, he was the youngest in the state and was just starting his career as a lawyer.

Huguet, now 74, told the council Tuesday night that he and his law firm Turner, Huguet & Adams, will step aside from representing the City of Clayton. The firm, the only one to represent the city, will stay on until a replacement is found.

Huguet has been the assistant city attorney since 2005, allowing firm partner Dan Adams to take the lead attorney role. But between 1964-2005, Huguet was Clayton's city attorney. It's unlikely that anyone in Clayton has attended more council meetings or had such a sustained influence on the city.

"It's pretty amazing, with all the change happening at this time, to have the same law firm for 47 years," Mayor David Shuey said. "It has allowed us an amazing amount of institutional knowledge over the years, which has been very helpful."

Huguet said he's "reached a point in his life when it was time to hang it up and do something different." He said he looks forward to spending more time with his family, specifically his grandchildren.

"There's been a lot of good people over all these many years," Huguet said. "On the council, management and staff — all good people to work with. Sometimes you play a small part and sometimes you play a big part, but it was nice to be part of the team. It's a good team."

The council must now search for a new city attorney and decide if it would like to continue to contract the position out, like the city did with Turner, Huguet & Adams, or bring in an in-house attorney.

The council established a two-person committee to assist in the search — Shuey, who is a practicing attorney, and councilwoman Julie Pierce.